Assassination
by seamusog
Summary: Gwendal is tasked to assassinate Conrad. Will he be able to kill his own brother? Or will the Royal Family be able to stop him?


**Assassination**

Gwendal didn't quite know how it got started. No. He knew exactly how it started, it started as these things always start – a brilliant idea from their child king. He just wasn't sure how it snowballed into an actual event. And he was completely baffled how they managed to rope him into it. But there he was behind a pillar watching Conrad as his fingers itched to grab the handle of the gun Anissina provided.

He had managed easily up to this point, assassinating several soldiers and a few maids in cold hearted efficiency within a few days. Dakaskos didn't even know what hit him as he saluted Gwendal in the commander's study. Lady Celi only shrieked and fell in his arms melodramatically crying that if she was to be killed by anyone, she was happy it was one of her cute, handsome sons. But then the first snag hit. He opened the piece of paper with the same hope of seeing the one name he wanted. The name of the person who forced him into this tortuous activity of mindless killing. But instead he read one of the two names that he dreaded receiving. The piece of paper only had one word: Conrad.

He knew it was not going to be easy, but he didn't think it would take him over two days to get rid of his brother. Even Wolfram was able to kill Günter within half a day then went on to eliminate Hube with the same efficacy. Granted Wolfram was clever enough to use the experienced warriors' loved ones to achieve his goal. Günter was the last person in Shin Makoku to resist any summons from Yuuri. And Hube had only wanted to help his wife Nicola with their son. Who knew his youngest brother would resort to such lowly manipulations. He was almost proud of him.

But Conrad had no such weaknesses. He would protect his king with his life, but he was too quick to discern any ruse that would leave him with any vulnerabilities. No, this had to be taken cared of not with cunning but with strength, caution and patience. And patience was not something Gwendal had plenty of at the moment.

He wished he knew how Anissina managed to destroy one platoon in ten minutes. The news had rocked the castle to its foundation. From the confused rumors, he learned she had walked among them as they prepared for their morning exercises; witnesses saw some flashing lights, then an explosion and after the smoke cleared, all the men were dead. He wondered about the device that helped her with that mass slaughter. But he wasn't about to go ask her. For all he knew, he could be her next victim.

Better her than Yozak, Gwendal mused. He wouldn't be able to sleep, eat or do anything if he knew Yozak was after him. It was already bad enough with the constant vigilance, never knowing whether to trust the person in front of him.

He was about to move stealthily to another vantage point to continue his observation on Conrad when his other brother came into the corridor.

"Good afternoon, Big Brother. Have you seen Greta?" Wolfram said keeping his distance until he noticed the person in the courtyard. He nodded imperceptively and proceeded to stand by Gwendal.

The older brother tried to keep his voice calm and free of any note of distrust. "I haven't seen her since lunch. She did say Yuuri promised to read her books this afternoon."

"Hmmm... that's the thing. Yuuri has been looking for her since he got out of Günter's lessons," Wolfram replied as he stroke his chin and wrinkled his brows in that endearing way that Gwendal found so terribly cute.

Before Gwendal could answer, the object of Wolfram's search appeared around the corner. Greta's face broke in a wide smile when she saw them.

"Gwendal, Wolfram. Hi!" she leaped into Gwendal's arms and hugged him. "Have you seen Yuuri? He promised to read stories to me this afternoon."

"Wolfram had just been looking for you princess..." Gwendal started but never finished.

The cold shot chilled him into silence. His shocked expression was a study in contrast to Greta's beaming countenance. She put away her gun and laid her small hands on either side of his face. He could only stare at the beautiful angel of death who said in a small voice completely devoid of remorse, "You're dead."

There was a momentary silence before Wolfram demanded, "Cough it up, Big Brother."

Gwendal cleared his throat and stood up. He took the piece of paper out of his jacket and handed it to Wolfram who glanced at it before giving it to Greta.

"Conrad! This is going to be easy," she squealed.

"Greta, there you are," the voice of their king drifted from the other end of the corridor. He waved at them and continued, "I've been looking for you all over. What have you been up to?"

Greta ran up to him and hugged him, "Oh, Yuuri, I just killed Gwendal!"

"That's my girl," Yuuri beamed. "I'm so proud of you."

"I couldn't have done it without Wolfram," she replied.

Yuuri turned to grin at Wolfram before turning back to Greta. "Shall we go to the library?"

"Hey, how about we read stories this evening before bedtime?"

"Well... okay..."

"Let's go play baseball instead."

"That's a great idea, Greta! I'm so happy you're my daughter... Let's go find Conrad!"

The happy couple disappeared and Gwendal eyed his grinning youngest brother with barely suppressed loathing.

"What are you going to do when she gets your or Yuuri's name?" he growled.

"You should know by now," Wolfram smirked, "that Yuuri and I would lay down our lives for our daughter."


End file.
